Carey: 'It makes sense for regs to mature until October'

Formula 1 CEO Chase Carey says pushing back the sport's 2021 regulations deadline to October follows a prudent approach rather than one based on rushed decisions.

F1 aims to usher in a new era in 2021 thanks to a sporting, technical and financial regulation overhaul that has been in the works for over a year.

The FIA's initial deadline called for the future rules to be set in stone by the end of June, but a meeting in Montreal before the Canadian Grand Prix between F1's managers, the governing body and the teams followed by last week's summit in Paris led to the conclusion that more fine-tuning of the regulations is still required.

• Formula 1 delays 2021 regulations until October!

"It makes sense to allow the new regulations to mature until October," said Carey, speaking on Monday night to Austria's Servus TV.

"We are a global sport so there is always a lot to do because we have to take care of many things.

"The Paris meeting is about the future of the sport, what F1 should look like, how the sport can bring more drama to the fans.

"We discussed this with the teams, we spoke with our partner the FIA and we came to the conclusion that it makes sense to extend the deadline for the 2021 regulations and beyond.

"It’s better to do it right than to rush it, so we decided to extend until October."

In Montreal, according to reporting from Germany's Auto Motor und Sport, the teams expressed massive concern with the limited scope of development and innovation that the future rules will allow as well as with F1's approach to standardization.

In short, the teams see the 2021 technical regulations, as they have been defined so far, as way too restrictive.

Teams have apparently also criticized the potential aesthetics of the 2021 cars, the lines of which do not resemble the futuristic designs presented in last year's impressive renderings.

One team engineer was quoted by AMUS as saying that the 2021 "looks like a bigger IndyCar".

"I cannot imagine that it will appeal to the target group of 20 to 25-year-olds.

"The originally planned futuristic approach has disappeared. The cars in the computer games look better than the ones in reality."

Compromise will likely ensue over the summer as Liberty Media seeks to balance change with the interests of ten teams, all done against the backdrop of the sport's $175 million budget cap.

Ultimately however, Chase Carey wants F1 to cater first and foremost to the fans.

"The fans are the reason why we race at all," said F1's top executive.

"On the other hand, we need the expertise of professionals to make the right decisions. We want to protect the sport and retain what has made it great.

"We have to improve the on-track competition, while races should be exciting and dramatic."

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